Hopper earns OVC Freshman of the Week honors

Dec 21, 2009

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tiara Hopper had a career night Saturday
against Belmont and was recognized as the Ohio Valley Conference
Freshman of the Week for her efforts, marking the first time this
season she has earned the distinction.

Hopper came up huge defensively down the stretch of the close,
72-69, win against Belmont, blocking a lay-up that would have given
the Bruins a three-point lead with less than two minutes remaining
and stealing an in-bounds pass with 32 seconds to go in the game
and a two-point Golden Eagle lead.

"I was impressed with Tiara's performance, especially how she
played defensively," said Sytia Messer, Golden Eagle head coach.
"She made a key stop with seconds left in the game, and we were
also able to go to her offensively, so I was very pleased."

The Louisville, Ky., native also pulled down three rebounds in
the final two minutes of the game to record her second
double-double of the season with a career-high14 points and 10
boards. Hopper also added two assists, one block and one steal in a
career-high 36 minutes of action off the bench.

"One of the things we've encouraged her to do is use her
quickness to her advantage," Messer said of the 5-foot-11 forward.
"She's buying into it and playing with a lot of heart to make up
for her lack of inches. We're very proud of her."

Hopper's first double-double of the season came in the team's
season opener against Alabama when she tallied 12 points and 10
rebounds.

For the season, Hopper is averaging 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds
per game in 21.1 minutes of playing time for the Golden Eagles.

"She has had some big games for us, and we've challenged her to
be more consistent," Messer said. "We're challenging her to play at
a high level consistently so that she's not only trying to
be the OVC Freshman of the Week but OVC Freshman of the Year."

Hopper joins teammate Tacarra Hayes as the two Golden Eagles who
have received OVC weekly honors so far this season. Hayes was named
the OVC Player of the Week for the first week of the season when
she led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists at the Islander
Tip-Off Tournament.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday when they travel
to St. Louis to take on the Billikens at 2 p.m.